A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. A flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow. a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat: King Lear is a perfect example of a tragedy. In a typical tragedy, the main character, or tragic hero, is brought to suffer some extreme sorrow, because of a tragic flaw he possesses. King Lear, the tragic hero, carries the tragic flaw of vanity, which causes his downfall. His demise begins with him believing his two insincere older daughters, Goneril and Regan, tell him that they love him more than anything, and casts out his youngest daughter, Cordelia, who truthfully tells him, “I love your majesty according to my bond; nor more nor less” (Shakespeare 4). Lear is too arrogant to see that Cordelia is the daughter that truly loves him and throws out anyone close enough to tell him his mistake. As the plot progresses, Lear realizes Goneril and Regan have betrayed him and Cordelia did truly love him, but still refuses to return to Cordelia begging for forgiveness. At this point, Lear is mad, but Cordelia wants to nurse him back to health. Cordelia dies and later Lear dies of grief all because of his vanity.

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...A true tragedy has a very serious tone by which many sorrowful events lead to some kind of death. In literature, tragedy can often seem very dry due to the reader most likely knowing the ending. But often, the author uses different content and styles of writing to further develop the story beyond what is actually being read. Some examples of these methods are the use parallel plots, themes, and imagery. A parallel plot can be used to help support the main plot of the story, and themes or imagery are often used to help the reader picture what a certain character might be experiencing. In William Shakespeare’s KingLear, the reader is better able to understand the content of the story through the author’s thorough use of imagery, themes, as well as its parallel plot. These techniques allow each individual reader to interpret the story in their own way.
The use of a parallel plot allows the author to enhance the meaning or idea that is trying to be reached in the story. Sharing common themes between the two plots can aid in this idea. The plot with KingLear having the same themes as the plot with the Earl of Gloucester truly develops the story as a whole. Shakespeare probably realized having the two plots share themes would enforce the points he was trying to reach. An example of a common theme shared is the conflicting relationship between father and child. Lear starts...

...Ember Jenison
Mrs. Hinds
DE Brit. Lit. – Critical Essay
11/26/12
KingLear:
Self-Inflicted TragediesKingLear, written by William Shakespeare, tells of the tragedies the old king experiences. Lear loses his kingdom, is betrayed by his daughters, loses his pride and dignity, and loses the one daughter who truly loves him. All of these events could have been easily avoided. The tragedies that KingLear experience are of his own devices. Every event listed above are consequences of Lear’s own views, decisions, and actions.
KingLear makes many mistakes that lead him to his own doom. His first mistake is paying more attention to his daughters’ pretty words than their actual personalities and aims. When deciding how to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters, KingLear asks them the question: “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (line 50.1144) Lear’s intentions are genuine; he only wishes to divide his kingdom fairly among his daughters and give them all individual dowries. Lear’s eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, proclaim their love for him with extravagant and very flattering speeches. Cordelia, Lear’s third daughter, does not use flattery. She is honest with her father saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my...

...dy KingLear: A Tragedy
In Shakespeare’s, “KingLear” the structure and elements of tragedy help develop the theme of greed throughout the play.
In the first act of the play the reader is introduced to a proble, KingLear is getting old and when he passes away he doesn’t want his three daughters fighting for his kingdom. KingLear decided to play a game with them asking them “Tell me, my daughters, which of you loves us most, that we may place. Our largest bounty with the largest merit.” The King is playing a very selfish game with his daughters he wants them to tell him how much they love him. Goneril and Regan go along with his game because they both are power hungry and want the biggest part of the kingdom. They even lie to Lear and tell him that they love him more than anything, even more than their husbands. Both sisters are power hungry and selfish willing to put power before the truth. Unlike their youngest sister Cordelia, she refused to lie to her father and told him she loved him how any child should love their father. KingLear was angered by this and disowned her vanishing her from the kingdom. Lears actions showed how greedy he was with his daughters love and he wanted to make sure that they spoke his love for him out loud.
An element of...

...play God, is not the Divine One, He is rather depicted as many gods, like in Greek mythology. God sees to it that both evil doers and good doers receive justice and rewards, but sometimes God is not fair, those good doers are sometimes persecuted with the evil doers because of association or to prove a point.
Divine justice is a very ambiguous notion; one might ask what punishment is too much for a certain crime or what punishment is too little for a crime. For example, in the case of Chris Brown and Rihanna, some people may think that Chris Brown’s punishment is not just. But based on divine justice his punishment will come in due time. You cannot always rely on the courts or those that are considered the “crown” like KingLear, to intervene and ensure proper consequences. In Chris Brown’s case he is still enduring his punishment, he has been shunned publicly, badgered constantly, lost fans, lost money, and on a downward spiral, the courts could not have caused this. This is justice by the divine One. In the case of Casey Anthony many people believe that she should have been charged with the killing of her daughter but she was instead just charged with incriminating evidence. This punishment was not enough for the crime or deed she supposedly committed. There are numerous cases in which someone committed a crime and received a very unfitting punishment for the crime. In the play most of the characters that were doing wrong were...

...
Attempting to further his glory, KingLear actually destroys his reputation and authority and, upon realizing he has brought this devastation upon himself, inflicts punishment upon himself. However, the tragedy is truly established when the audience finds a reflection of themselves in KingLear and, despite the tragic downfall, Lear finds a victory in his defeat when he comes into a purer understanding of the world and his true self. Lear endures an extended storm that forces him to redefine himself as a man. Although the storm eventually calms and order is restored to his kingdom, Lear does not see a future, for his selfish actions destroy the one truth he knew – Cordelia. As Lear takes responsibility for his egocentric actions, he comes to a sense of anagnorisis that allows Lear to better understand the definition of “king” and, although it leads to his tragic death, there is a sense of victory in his knowledge gained, making Lear a model for the tragic hero.
Although KingLear had more faith in his daughters when he gave them the crown, he comes to know he is at fault for his downfall because he thought, as king, that he was morally above all citizens. KingLear strives to create the best possible situation for himself in...

...Shakespeare’s KingLear is a Jacobean play that explores numerous themes of destruction, loyalty and natural law that were so prominent in his context. In the play Gloucester has a bastard son whose character reflects his immoral conception and who actively resents the limitations of his birth. While Jacobean England was undergoing numerous social changes because of factors such as increased trade, greater education and a forming middle class, Edmund represents the limitations in social mobility still apparent at the time and his resentment of this. “I grow; I prosper. Now, gods, stand up for bastards!” (1.2) The Renaissance brought about new notions of human potential during it’s exploration of the past and in the play the Fool is the best example of this. Ironically, he is the most insightful character in the play, making sound observations about KingLear and human nature. The full purpose of the Fool is to stress Lear’s poor judgment, to contribute to the themes of appearance versus reality and the tragedy of life, and to elicit pathos and humour out of Lear’s madness.
The chain of being is an important theme in the play as a principal believed in by most Jacobean citizens as a religious model of their life. In KingLear the Chain of being is disrupted by Lear who decides to divide up his land among his daughters before his death, handing over power to...

...dive lead him deeper into destruction, eventually ending in tragedy. The inhabitant of power by Regan and Goneril is the first destruction of personal old orders. The rejection of cordelia leads to familial disorder, and after Regan and Goneril’s inheritance of the king's authority and land results in a social anarchy. The final destruction within the older of divinity, king lear’s decision to step down before his time.
The evidence of old personal order destruction becomes clear when he hand down his power by diving his kingdom, he hands power to those who are plotting against him. i “Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided?In three our kingdom” (1.2) .kingLear is blinded by manipulative personalities of his two daughter’s Regan and Goneril, he fails to reveal their true intentions of humiliating him and take advantage of him in order to benefit themselves. Being blinded by the need to be loved by his daughters kingLear delegates his authority to them. The desperation of the king who wanted to hear his daughter declare their love for him is the sign that the king is lost, his a lost king who puts his needs and wants before governing his kingdom. His more interested in being flattered by people who surrounds him.
The passing down of power to those who wants it for their own selfish reason...

..."See better, Lear."
How does Lear see' more clearly by Act V Scene 3, and what has led him to this?
KingLear of Britain, the ageing protagonist in Shakespeare's tragic play undergoes radical change as a man, father and king as the plot progresses when forced to bear the repercussions of his actions. Lear is initially portrayed as being an egotistical ruler, relying on protestations of love from his daughters to apportion his kingdom. Lear's tragic flaw is the division of his kingdom and his inability to see the true natures of people because of his pride while his scathing anger is also shown to override his judgement. He wrongfully disowns his youngest and most truthful daughter Cordelia, preferring his elder daughters, Regan and Goneril, because of an eagerness to be flattered, and they ironically turn out to be evil. He displays inadequacies as a father through lack of knowledge concerning the true characters of all his daughters, and as King through the sudden dividing of his land. Lear loses his sanity when he cannot cope with the insensitive treatment from his two elder daughters. His madness is a learning experience, as he realises his earlier mistakes in the play, including his mistreatment of Cordelia. When he does regain sanity, he is a much wiser and enhanced man, father and king.
Kent, one of Lear's followers, is the first...

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